As the first black person to earn a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Yale University, Gwendolyn Boyd is determined to encourage greater diversity in the field.

Image caption: Gwendolyn Boyd

Boyd joined the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory as a team engineer in 1980, and she went on to serve as assistant for development programs, coordinating all external programs including research at other universities, and as executive assistant to the APL chief of staff.

Boyd helped establish the APL Technology Leadership Scholars Program, as well as the ATLAS Summer Internship Program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions and Minority Institutions. She was named chair of the Johns Hopkins Institutions Diversity Leadership Council, and in 2010 President Obama appointed her to the board of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.